Cien años de soledad

Beginning with Gabriel García Márquez’s most well known novel, Cien años de soledad, or One Hundred Years of Solitude, one can find tragedy rampant throughout this book (and a lot of strange things i.e. kids with pig tails, but we’ll save that for another time). This book is not something you want to read if you are already in a great mood, or trying to lift your spirits except of course if you are some sort of sadistic person who takes pleasure in the pain of others. From the first truly tragic event in which the very first José Arcadio Buendía goes insane and is tied to a tree where he remains for the remainder of his life, to the final tragic event in which the aged town of Macondo is destroyed, One Hundred Years of Solitude is filled with tragedy after tragedy.  Not to get too repetitive about the tragedy that fills Márquez’s novel but other instances of tragedy within his novel include the massacre of a group of people, the death of third generation Arcadio by a firing squad, and the death of loved ones that cause those left to retreat into solitude. Looking at the various instances of tragedy that occur in this novel through an analytical lens, one finds that the various tragic events that affect not only the inhabitants of Macondo but also Macondo itself is what causes the solitude that is so clearly reflected in the title One Hundred Years of Solitude. 


In addition to tragedy constituting the solitude that surrounds the various members of the Buendía family, the very solitude that epitomizes Márquez’s fictional characters is in itself a tragedy because in an abstract sense it is what eventually brings the downfall of the Buendía family and Macondo.  What is interesting to note about the way in which tragedy is portrayed in this novel and in other pieces of Spanish literature is that tragic events are not events that simply bring about an ephemeral sadness instead they are intense happenings that leave long lasting and significant effects on the characters. In permeating his novel with tragedy after tragedy that in effect create a whole new tragedy of solitude, I believe that Márquez is reflecting the idea that while solitude has merits in that it may sometimes bring needed reprieve, it can become a disease if we allow it to consume us and in a sense become our own tragedy. Therefore through tragedy Márquez reflects a human condition in which transient solitude is permissible but long lasting isolation is a detriment.